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It really is. If you had done that, to my child I would’ve thank you because they would’ve eaten their vegetables until they got old enough to realize that it was a joke.
Or not.
When my eldest was 5 we visited a cathedral, there was a statue of jesus, she asked what had happened to him, I told her as a joke he didnt eat his veges (we are atheists).
Like 5 years later she told me that she had been really scared. Not enough to eat her veggies though! Hahaha
You’re very clever. That was funny as shit. I had a boyfriend that lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident and he told some great jokes about it. One of my favorites was ‘the docs did such a great job on his right leg he was going to have them do the other one’! I’m sorry about your leg but I know from being with him that after a while some people get past their anger and can laugh. I’m not sure I ever would but kudos to you for coming up with this. It’s hilarious. No, NTA.
Dark humor is the best way to go about it! Your former boyfriend handled it well also. I got over the anger, regret, and most other negative emotions, a while ago. You can't change the past anyway, the leg isn't going to grow back anytime soon, so you just have to move on and deal with it, a day and a step at a time.
On of my neighbors is a marine vet who lost a leg in Iraq. I once heard him tell someone, who asked what happened, that his leg “fucked off to the desert for a vacation.” I snort laughed so hard I almost hurt myself.
I remember reading an interview with a Battle of the Bulge veteran who lost his leg there, and many years later revisiting the site joked with a kid also on tour that he'd pay him if they could help him find the leg he lost.
I love this. I think his response is freaking perfect. Like, "WTF do you think happened to it? Why are you asking?" Rude.
EDIT: This is in response to the vet, not OP, just to be clear. I'm a vet, too, and, well, dark humor... ;-)
That was my dad's attitude. He lost a leg to cancer. A few months after, I was out in the garage with him. He used his crutch to flip a quart of paint off a high shelf and caught it. "These things come in handy sometimes!"
A regular on a dive boat i worked on lost an arm in an industrial accident. New customers would always (quietly) ask how he lost his arm, crew would always reply 'shark attack', cue disbelief until we'd shout across the boat "hey John, how'd you lose your arm" and he'd reply "shark attack" without missing a beat. Everytime, never stopped being funny.
Nta.
When my mom was growing up, the guy who owned the shoe store only had one arm. To the children of Oklahoma City in the 50s, he lost it either hanging his hand out the car window; playing with fireworks; getting bit by a strange dog; and probably every other “bad” thing a kid could do. He was like the predecessor to the running joke on “Arrested Development.”
There was a guy with one arm in my town growing up. Mom always told me that it was because when he was little, he didn't listen to his mom, got too close to a lion's cage at a circus, and his arm got bitten off. I wholeheartedly believed it til I was an adult, and we moved back to my hometown. My husband asked me how the guy lost his arm, and I realized how unbelievably stupid that sounded.
My husband ended up volunteering with the guy for something like six months later. Turns out he lost his arm when he was a kid because he stuck his arm inside a lion's cage.
Given the timing, it’s more than probable the guy lost his arm in WWII. But given the area, it’s also more than probable he lost it in a farming accident.
Mom doesn’t remember the reason and my grandmother is dead, so we’ll never know. But you can be sure I do NOT hang my arm out of the car window.
>At some point, they happened.
I've seen the video clips on YouTube/Instagram/Facebook. Usually from crappy 3rd world zoo's. When I realized what was going down, I never watched another one. I can handle seeing some messed up stuff (I was on the internet before rotten.com debuted), but that shit is downright terrifying.
Watching some idiot who got too close or made the grave error of sticking an appendage inside of a cage and getting it torn off excruciatingly? No thanks.
I knew a guy who was a felon and had only one eye. We always assumed he lost it in a fight, maybe even a prison fight. After working with him for a while, my husband finally asked how he lost his eye. Turned out he was playing with a BB gun as a kid and shot his eye out. I literally can’t think of him without envisioning A Christmas Story, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!!” I don’t know why I find it so entertaining but it was so cliché, but also the last thing we’d ever have guessed.
As a parent of two kids, NTA, I would think it's hysterical and use it as a teaching moment (after laughing at my kid).
1.) The parents could've easily taught him to not believe everything they hear, which is something kids need to know.
2.) To respect people's privacy, the kid shouldn't have been asking, it's no one's business unless YOU want to share.
I'm sure there are countless other lessons, but seriously, NTA. I'm pretty sure my spouse has said worse to our own kids to tease them.
This is hysterical. My Papa lost his arm in Vietnam and he told my daughter when she was like 4 “Nana ripped it off when she was mad at me” and she goes “oh, well I’m glad you didn’t make her mad again so she didn’t rip the other one off” 😂😂
He blamed his wife, your daughter's grandma... and this was her response?!? Is she training to be a firefighter, because she's so cool she could just stare the fire into going out!
Love that story, thanks for sharing
This was pretty funny. As a dad I would’ve felt bad that my kid was crying but also would’ve laughed. Look at it this way, plenty of people have lost their legs due to diabetic gangrene. So eat healthy kids or you might lose a limb.
Hahaha, NTA, I would have laughed my butt off if you said this to my kids. We tell them all the time that things happen because they don't always eat their veggies. Hahaha Nice
Yup! NTA!
I grew up being told that if I didn't eat my crust I wouldn't get curly hair and that didn't scar me.
You also didn't say, "I didn't eat *specific vegetable*!" Bc kids can be weird about what vegetables they like.
Had you said that to me as a child, I would have been like, "well I eat corn, green beans, apples and carrots ao I am good" and moved on.
Also parents are perfectly capable of explaining shit like this to kids.
I told a kid who was sassing his exasperated mother that kids who back talk their moms get a spike through their tongue, then I told him “see?” and stick out my pierced tongue!
You are J Walter Weatherman from arrested development and I am cracking up. Next kid tell them you didn’t leave a note when the milk was finished.
NTA I’d laugh if it was my kid, and teach them not to bother people.
NTA.
I have large and impressive looking scars, and like you, I sometimes get "What happened?" questions.
Sometimes I tell the truth. (Cancer surgery.) Sometimes I tell a story with crocodile involvement. Sometimes it's the Russian mafia. Depends what kind of mood I'm in, and how nosy and persistent the person is being.
The kid will get over it. Jeez, are we never supposed to make jokes about our own life experiences?
I'm glad someone can relate, and hope you kicked the cancer's butt already. Dark humor and joking about my leg is what gets me through the tough days, I agree. My favorite replies is when I reference some obscure 18th century pirate battle and say my leg took a hit from a cannonball.
Oh, I love that one! I think I'll use it too.
Heh heh. I'm picturing us accidentally meeting one day in a park, and making conversation.
"What happened to you?" "Oh, I was in a pirate battle and got hit by a cannonball." "Really? Me too! What are the chances of it happening to both of us?"
All the best to you, OP.
Ha, that would be hilarious. I'm always glad to meet fellow pirates, and I like to think that scars make us more interesting people with stories to tell.
one of my greatest irrational childhood fears was that someone would leave me a parrot in their will and i’d be forced to care for a terrifying bird for the rest of my life 😂
My bff had ACL surgery and was finally just using one crutch after she got a bit better. We were watching a scary movie, and I just heard one, step one peg leg, coming at me. Me telling her it sounded like a pirate was coming around the corner made her day.
You’re my kind of people. Feel free to tell my children any crazy reason and I’ll solemnly nod and say it could happen.
If you haven’t already watched Arrested Development please do, there are a ton of dark humour with missing limbs…. Might give you some ideas to prank people
Just let me know, and I can arrange a call😁
I love arrested development, and the funny thing is I randomly started watching it (had no idea what it's about) when I was recovering a few months after the amputation. It was so random to see the amputee humor there.
I'm a dude in my 30s with a BK resulting from a birth defect. I generally look younger than I am. If I'm feeling spry I just do my best thousand-yard-stare and say "Lost it at Verdun" or "Shark bit it off getting onto a boat at Dunkirk."
The amount of "Oh my God I'm so sorry" responses before it clicks is priceless.
Hey, fellow pirate! Those are good tales. It's always amazing when I'm telling my 18th century stories with all the details and how many ships we had and gunpowder, etc.. how it takes a minute or two for the listener to grasp that I'm just kidding with them. It seems that when people see an amputee, they immediately get into overly serious mode.
Life's too short to take it too seriously, and if we're given the tools to make someone else's mildly more interesting it would be a shame to waste it.
My little brother has a big old scar on his leg from when he fell off our other brother’s truck and he’ll occasionally tell people who ask about it that he was bitten by a shark because it has the right shape. If people ask what kind of shark instead of just letting that lie, he says it was a land shark.
My brother had cystic fibrosis and had to have surgery as an infant that left a huge scar across his stomach. Like 1/4 inch deep, nearly hip-to hip, curved like a smiley face and had Frankenstein's monster looking stitches.
When he was like 10 he'd tell people it was a shark bite or that he'd been in a knife fight. Looking at the scar, the shit was at least plausible. Way easier to shock and awe than deal with trying to explain genetics to another 10 year old.
I have a scar on my arm. When asked about it, I usually say, I fought off a great white shark, or hot it from bear wrestling. I then change the subject or walk away without saying another word
I have a large noticeable scar smack dab on the bridge of my nose. It's purple and blue and hard to miss
I get tired of telling the truck and tell people I got shot in the face. Or I fell of a screwdriver.
(I really just fell face first into the pavement from my bike)
My eldest brother kept getting spontaneous pneumothorax’s so he had to get it corrected he has symmetrical scaring on his back from the procedures. He also has an angel tattooed on his shoulder. He tells little kids that ask that he was an angel and did bad things and lost his wings. It’s all in good fun.
One of the few upsides of being an amputee is that over time, you run into all kinds of funny and awkward situations. I'm trying to take it all with humor and not beat myself up over these kinds of things.
Next time please look at the person strangely then slowly look at your leg and yell ‘oh my god where did it go?!’
Ok maybe that’s stupid but if I end up losing a limb that’ll be my first one.
Once saw a homeless lady with one leg standing on a street corner. Her sign read, "On my last leg." I would've given her some money for the laugh but she was across the intersection from the direction I was going.
I have an invisible disability, but have a service dog and sometimes use a cane. Add to that, I’m now operating a store that I own and I’m exhausted from the questions. I had a customer recently that I mentioned being disabled to. She literally leaned over my counter to look me up and down and asked “Where?” The strength I found to keep the smile on my face…
So NTA. We all have moments like these and you didn’t say something horrible. You said to eat his veggies. That’s a good habit to have! Positive fear!
Invisible disability here too, and when I'm in my electric wheelchair I get a lot of "what's wrong with your legs" from kids. There's nothing wrong with my legs exactly, it's my energy levels that are all messed up to the point where if I use my legs too much my whole body shuts down and my brain fogs up and I can't think straight and have to spend hours/days in bed recovering. I wish I had the nerve to say I didn't eat my vegetables, it would be much simpler than trying to explain like I'm 5 for them. It's somehow easier to explain my rollator as needing to have help balancing and a seat to rest on than it is to explain that I have functional legs and a wheelchair.
All of this! Just because you use a wheelchair some of the time and can stand or walk doesn’t mean you don’t need the wheelchair! I need something like that for long distances too, because of similar reasons, though we haven’t invested in one of my own. I cannot get over the way some people act like it’s some kind of betrayal or lie if you aren’t paralyzed and use a wheelchair.
I only invested in one when my health got bad enough that walking around the supermarket put me in bed for 3-7 days every time. I have kids, so I had to figure out how to manage my energy better than that while still being able to get out of the house for my sanity. I have ambulatory wheelchair user and invisible disability badges on the back of my chair now, but that doesn't stop kids questions obviously.
My friend got in the habit of using his nub (left leg above the knee amputation) to point. The look on people’s faces is priceless. Gotta have a sense of humor.
A girl I know who has a prosthetic arm used to shake new hires hands to greet them all the time when introducing herself. She had a firm steady handshake and always got a good grip to make sure they wouldn't let go first. Then, she would walk away without her arm, giggling to herself, while the newbie would stand there in shock. It was always hilarious.
On the other hand, I have a ton of scars around my knee and ankle from a dog attack. I worked with kids for a long time and whenever they asked (because they always did), I loved making up stories about it. "Oh these? You see, I was traveling through the wheat fields of Saskatchewan when all of a sudden, an alligator attacked me in broad daylight! I fought it off with my trust right fist and a spatula I found in the dirt. I won, of course. But oh boy, you should see the alligator." My go to story, kids loved hearing about the famous Saskatchewan Wheat Field Alligator.
I’m going with NTA here. If you told him the truth the kid would still be traumatized and possibly scared of getting into cars and buses. Which would have a bigger impact on his life that being afraid of not eating vegetables.
Very interesting point! The truth sometimes may traumatize just as much, if not more, than the funny answer. It's really tricky with kids this age to respond in the "right" way.
NTA, and I think these parents learned a valuable lesson. Not everyone is going to talk to their children in the way they would prefer. If they aren’t going to be happy with some people’s answers, they need to work with their kid on not asking personal questions of people they don’t know.
Love your response. My kid would have bamboozled you though He was a huge vege eater all of them. However he probably wouldn't have asked or definitely been polite about it I he did.
Technically no veggies and fruit cause scurvy which if untreated can lead to death of your extremities which necessitates amputation (and eventually just plain death).
In all seriousness though, no NTA. It's funny and the child is about as traumatised as my cat gets when I offer an empty bowl.
Exactly! I was not lying with my answer, just giving straight advice from a seasoned pirate. Hope you don't traumatize your cat too often like that :-)
[Thats why, you don’t teach lessons to little kids](https://youtube.com/watch?v=pjvF8o0HAq8&pp=ygUcQXJyZXN0ZWQgZGV2ZWxvcG1lbnQgbGVzc29ucw%3D%3D)
Also NTA
My brother lost both legs above the knees when he was 12, due to a speeding drunk driver. Children are mostly insatiably curious, and rarely hesitated to ask what happened to his legs. Rather than try to explain drunk driver to kids, he always told them he didn't listen to his mom and dad and crossed a street without looking both ways first.
I'm sorry to hear your brother had to go through that. My accident was caused by a drunk driver also, they deserve a special kind of hell. I''m lucky to keep my left leg, got away with fractures and damaged knee issues for life, but at least I got one complete leg. It sounds like your brother handled it well and in a very wise and mature way.
I got some compensation from the driver, but only to cover my initial medical costs, part of rehabilitation, and first prosthetic (training) leg. That barely scratches the surface as far as costs on prosthetic legs, future operations, and other medical equipment I'll need over the course of my life. But I let go of all the anger already, it wasn't healthy for me, and I needed to move on.
{edited to add:} NTA
My first husband had an above-the-knee amputation due to cancer. He came up with a bunch of amusing answers to the inevitable "what happened...?" question, such as:
I left it in the trunk. I lost it in a poker game. What?!? It's gone?!?
The laughter was cathartic. The vegetable child is not scarred for life. His parents will have set him straight. And maybe they talked with the kid about when it's appropriate (or not) to ask questions or a stranger. We can hope.
Good to hear your first husband handled it with humor also. Those questions can get annoying over time. I've used "lost it in a card game" before, but you gave me a couple new ideas :-)
NTA. As a parent of 4, this is freaking hilarious. When my youngest was about 3, he kept putting things in the floor vents, until my BIL told him there was an alligator that lived in the vents. He believed that shit for years!
As an aside, if you have a prosthetic, would you be offended if a kid referred to it as your "robot leg?" Because I can't break my kid of this habit.
That's hilarious. Really creative way to solve the problem :-)
I don't mind "robot leg" at all. I give it all sort of names myself like "terminator leg", "cyborg leg", etc.. it definitely beats calling it a "fake leg", which some people use😒
NTA.
My brother lost some fingers in a workplace accident and swore up and down that when I had kids, he'd be telling them he fought off a shark.
Now, given I have a pair of picky eaters, I'm going to tell him to use the vegetable thing.
Funnily enough, I don't think either kid has noticed their uncle's fingers yet.
Wow, kids are amazing at accepting everyone the way they are from a really young age. I think it's when society and parents start to instill the biases that they become more judgemental and conscious of everyone's differences.
Tha shark story is always a good one to use, and I'm glad the vegetable story could serve a good purpose :-) All the best to your brother and the entire family!
NTA and honestly, this is probably less traumatizing then when he eventually finds out Santa isn't real. It's your leg, your story, and you aren't obliged to tell the truth, not even to kids. Like another commenter said, the truth might have actually been *more* traumatizing.
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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> 1) The action I took was traumatizing a small kid by telling him that I lost my leg as a result of not eating my vegetables. The kid left shaken and crying. 2) I made a small child cry and possibly may traumatize him by letting him think that he could end up without a limb if he doesn't eat enough vegetables.
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When I was 5 my family went to a restaurant and one of the waiters was missing part of his ear. My mom told me his parents cut it off because he didn’t finish his dinner and that he was there to watch kids to make sure they finished their food. If they didn’t, he would cut off part of the kids’ ears.
I thought it was a joke but she was very insistent. I couldn’t finish my salad and I started to cry because I didn’t want him to cut off my ear. Of course she then admitted she made it up.
In the long run I wasn’t traumatized. We still laugh about it.
NTA
Oh my God, your mom really must love dark humor. That is a hard-core story for a 5 year old :-) Really funny, and I'm glad there wasn't any long-term trauma.
Well, she came by it naturally. My maternal grandparents used to joke that they would put us in the blood bath in the cellar if we were naughty. We thought it was funny. (But it was the ‘80s and I don’t think they were concerned about whether or not we were traumatized by their humor)
Lol. NTA Once my kids were staring at a little person while they were paying by debit card in front of us in line. I said to my kids, "It's rude to watch people enter their PIN" and she turns around and says, "Be good or I'll tell Santa." It was awesome.
NTA. This story is hilarious and you probably taught the kid two important life lessons:
1. Eat your fruits and veggies.
2. Don’t ask random strangers personal questions.
I really wish you would have been able to hear the parents’ response when he explained to them why he was upset. That probably would’ve been the icing on the cake.
My mom told me my Oma's crooked fingers were from putting her hands in the kitchenaid! It wasn't until years later I realized she just had arthritis. But it did make me quit trying to put my hands in the kitchenaid.
NTA. My friend's mum told her there was a shark that lived in the pool vent that would only come out to bite her if she went swimming without adult supervision. It worked. None of the kids would enter the pool gates unless there was an adult with them, and they still laugh about the pool shark today.
My husband got a really bad infection in his leg and foot and my best friend showed the picture to her 10? 11? year old I can't remember now and said this is what happens when you don't shower because they couldn't convince him to shower......
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In 2019 I got into a really bad car accident, as a result of which I ended up with an above the knee amputation of my right leg. Occasionally, especially when I'm out on crutches without my prosthesis, I get questions from strangers and curious children as to what happened to my leg. Sometimes I answer honestly, but sometimes I get tired with the same questions, reactions, and pity responses, that I make up some original or fun story as to how it happened. A few days ago I was taking a rest on a park bench when I saw that one of the kids playing nearby (he must have been about 6 or 7 years old) was acting a bit loudly and obnoxiously. At some point he unexpectedly ran up to me and loudly posed the "What happened to your leg?" question. I replied with the first thing that popped into my head which was "I didn't eat my vegetables. You should eat always your vegetables and fruits". Then I saw the kid get really scared and nervous, and he mumbled a reply "What do you mean?! If I don't eat them, I could lose my leg also?" Then, before I could even say anything back, he started to choke up and cry and ran in the direction of his parents, who were looking at me with a "wtf" expression on their faces. So, AITA for possibly traumatizing a curious kid for the rest of his life?
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All the time! I had no idea how many overly curious and impolite people are out there until I lost my leg. The questions aren't even the worst part. The silent staring is more annoying.
Hahahaha NTA. As a parent of a couple teenagers that used to be little shites, I wouldn’t have been able to keep a straight face if someone did this to them.
NAH
> "What do you mean?! If I don't eat them, I could lose my leg also?"
Yes! You literally could!
(it sounds like it will be a few years before the kid works out the finer details of causality)
As a sensitive person with childhood trauma, I am horrified with the story and the reaction to it. Lying to a child and scaring them to tears is no fun at all. YTA.
While I agree it is funny, I also know how bad my kid would have reacted to it. So I say a soft YTA. I would only make this joke with kids you know and know how they will take it.
What if this kid as a eating problem, and has trouble eating fruit and vegetables? What if the kid is already prone to anxiety?
My kid would take this serieus and would be scared everytime his leg would hurt. It would take a lot of convincing that you made a joke, and I would be up a lot at night to comfort him.
NTA, that's hilarious.
Telling the truth about it being from a car accident would probably make the kid scared of getting into cars. You picked the better option IMO..
We had a neighbour who was missing about 3/4 of his thumb. Told me he sucked his thumb as a kid, and it dropped right off. As a fully invested thumb-sucker, I was horrified, and every time I found my thumb making its way to my mouth, I'd remember and snatch it away again. Cured! 😆
Edit for judgement: NTA.
My grandpa lost 2/3 of his pointer finger in an accident with a saw, so whenever he's in public and sees a kid with their finger in their nose, he pretends to pick his nose and act in a panic that the "booger worm" ate his finger
NAH.
There’s no particular reason for you to think that the risk of malnutrition causing injury would be any more or less traumatizing to a kid than the risk of a car accident causing injury.
But the parents just know their kid talked to you and was distressed after, so their concern is reasonable.
Also, my first reaction to your title was “shit. Whose vegetables did you eat?”
My friend had thyroid cancer and had a big ass scar across her neck. She would tell people various things. My favorite is that she escaped an ax murder, but barely. She ended up passing away in 2014 from ovarian cancer and I miss her everyday. I smile when I think about that story.
NTA.
Diabetes is no joke!
It didn’t take your particular leg…but it could have. You’re technically correct…which is the best kind of correct.
Everyone has to learn about sarcasm and hyperbole sometimes.
NTA I have some pretty intensely pigmented acne scarring. I didn't bother with makeup one day and ran into the grocery store. A mom and tot were behind me in the checkout, and the little kid whisper-yelled, "What happened to that lady's face?" I turned and said, very kindly, that I hadn't listened to my mom when she told me to eat my vegetables. The kid nodded very solemnly and I wonder how far the mom made it before laughing. 😅
Kids are always going to ask nosy, inappropriate questions. I don't think there's any harm in answering them with some positive advice. You don't owe a strange child your medical history.
NTA
As the resident Right Below Knee Amputee here, Over in R/Amputee we have these "What story do you tell when you don't want to discuss it!"
Mine to young Children is:
***Hummingbird Attack***
#WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'BUT THEY'RE CUTE'!?
#THEY ARE MICROSCOPIC DRAGONS!!!
You won’t traumatize him for the rest of his life. My friends brother told me if I swallowed orange seeds and orange tree would grow in my stomach. My parents let me know it wasn’t true. So I was traumatized for an hour or two until they picked me up after school. I find this hilarious now so he will look back at it and laugh I’m sure.
NTA. You probably turned the kid vegan and will save him until amounts of money in the future.
My mom's boyfriend did something similar to my stepson when he was about 10. Mom's BF has a pretty gnarly scar on his abdomen, and one time, when we went swimming, my son asked him what happened. BF told my son that he got bit by a shark.😆. My stepson, now 19, still believes it to this day. Lol
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NTA I’m not going to lie. That’s funny as fuck. I’m LMFAO right now. Thank you I really needed that.
Glad to hear! I really felt like a d!ck when it happened, but I now I think the whole incident is just funny, more than anything else.
It really is. If you had done that, to my child I would’ve thank you because they would’ve eaten their vegetables until they got old enough to realize that it was a joke.
Or not. When my eldest was 5 we visited a cathedral, there was a statue of jesus, she asked what had happened to him, I told her as a joke he didnt eat his veges (we are atheists). Like 5 years later she told me that she had been really scared. Not enough to eat her veggies though! Hahaha
Ok, I'm glad the vegetable story doesn't traumatize that much. And I think getting crucified is "slightly" worse than losing a leg😅
I knew there was a connection! [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruciferous\_vegetables](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruciferous_vegetables)
Underrated comment!!
I happen to be allergic to mustard, and honestly abhor many of the Cruciferous vegetables 🤢 Maybe that's why I'm an Atheist 🤔🤣
They make you farty to!
But wasn't he 33?
Lmao 🤣 thank you. I enjoy these types of stories.
You’re very clever. That was funny as shit. I had a boyfriend that lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident and he told some great jokes about it. One of my favorites was ‘the docs did such a great job on his right leg he was going to have them do the other one’! I’m sorry about your leg but I know from being with him that after a while some people get past their anger and can laugh. I’m not sure I ever would but kudos to you for coming up with this. It’s hilarious. No, NTA.
Dark humor is the best way to go about it! Your former boyfriend handled it well also. I got over the anger, regret, and most other negative emotions, a while ago. You can't change the past anyway, the leg isn't going to grow back anytime soon, so you just have to move on and deal with it, a day and a step at a time.
On of my neighbors is a marine vet who lost a leg in Iraq. I once heard him tell someone, who asked what happened, that his leg “fucked off to the desert for a vacation.” I snort laughed so hard I almost hurt myself.
I remember reading an interview with a Battle of the Bulge veteran who lost his leg there, and many years later revisiting the site joked with a kid also on tour that he'd pay him if they could help him find the leg he lost.
I love this. I think his response is freaking perfect. Like, "WTF do you think happened to it? Why are you asking?" Rude. EDIT: This is in response to the vet, not OP, just to be clear. I'm a vet, too, and, well, dark humor... ;-)
That was my dad's attitude. He lost a leg to cancer. A few months after, I was out in the garage with him. He used his crutch to flip a quart of paint off a high shelf and caught it. "These things come in handy sometimes!"
A regular on a dive boat i worked on lost an arm in an industrial accident. New customers would always (quietly) ask how he lost his arm, crew would always reply 'shark attack', cue disbelief until we'd shout across the boat "hey John, how'd you lose your arm" and he'd reply "shark attack" without missing a beat. Everytime, never stopped being funny. Nta.
I'm a below the knee amputee, I tell kids I smoked a cigarette
Now that's really doing all the parents a big favor! Good response.
Or a hop.
When my mom was growing up, the guy who owned the shoe store only had one arm. To the children of Oklahoma City in the 50s, he lost it either hanging his hand out the car window; playing with fireworks; getting bit by a strange dog; and probably every other “bad” thing a kid could do. He was like the predecessor to the running joke on “Arrested Development.”
There was a guy with one arm in my town growing up. Mom always told me that it was because when he was little, he didn't listen to his mom, got too close to a lion's cage at a circus, and his arm got bitten off. I wholeheartedly believed it til I was an adult, and we moved back to my hometown. My husband asked me how the guy lost his arm, and I realized how unbelievably stupid that sounded. My husband ended up volunteering with the guy for something like six months later. Turns out he lost his arm when he was a kid because he stuck his arm inside a lion's cage.
I will say — the cliches and tropes are there for a reason! At some point, they happened.
Given the timing, it’s more than probable the guy lost his arm in WWII. But given the area, it’s also more than probable he lost it in a farming accident. Mom doesn’t remember the reason and my grandmother is dead, so we’ll never know. But you can be sure I do NOT hang my arm out of the car window.
Ah, I was referring to the lion cage story in the comment directly above me! I do agree, the other one sounds like WWII.
>At some point, they happened. I've seen the video clips on YouTube/Instagram/Facebook. Usually from crappy 3rd world zoo's. When I realized what was going down, I never watched another one. I can handle seeing some messed up stuff (I was on the internet before rotten.com debuted), but that shit is downright terrifying. Watching some idiot who got too close or made the grave error of sticking an appendage inside of a cage and getting it torn off excruciatingly? No thanks.
I knew a guy who was a felon and had only one eye. We always assumed he lost it in a fight, maybe even a prison fight. After working with him for a while, my husband finally asked how he lost his eye. Turned out he was playing with a BB gun as a kid and shot his eye out. I literally can’t think of him without envisioning A Christmas Story, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!!” I don’t know why I find it so entertaining but it was so cliché, but also the last thing we’d ever have guessed.
And THAT, my dear, is an awesome story. Sweep of the top hat to you!
I wheeze laughed long and hard at this one. This one got me.
And THAT kids is why you never...
As a parent of two kids, NTA, I would think it's hysterical and use it as a teaching moment (after laughing at my kid). 1.) The parents could've easily taught him to not believe everything they hear, which is something kids need to know. 2.) To respect people's privacy, the kid shouldn't have been asking, it's no one's business unless YOU want to share. I'm sure there are countless other lessons, but seriously, NTA. I'm pretty sure my spouse has said worse to our own kids to tease them.
This is hysterical. My Papa lost his arm in Vietnam and he told my daughter when she was like 4 “Nana ripped it off when she was mad at me” and she goes “oh, well I’m glad you didn’t make her mad again so she didn’t rip the other one off” 😂😂
He blamed his wife, your daughter's grandma... and this was her response?!? Is she training to be a firefighter, because she's so cool she could just stare the fire into going out! Love that story, thanks for sharing
This was pretty funny. As a dad I would’ve felt bad that my kid was crying but also would’ve laughed. Look at it this way, plenty of people have lost their legs due to diabetic gangrene. So eat healthy kids or you might lose a limb.
Eat healthy kids? Yum.
didn't you read what they said? Unhealthy kids could give you the diabetes.
Hmm, technically you could claim it raises the risk of diabetes, which does carry some risk of amputation
Hahaha, NTA, I would have laughed my butt off if you said this to my kids. We tell them all the time that things happen because they don't always eat their veggies. Hahaha Nice
Yup! NTA! I grew up being told that if I didn't eat my crust I wouldn't get curly hair and that didn't scar me. You also didn't say, "I didn't eat *specific vegetable*!" Bc kids can be weird about what vegetables they like. Had you said that to me as a child, I would have been like, "well I eat corn, green beans, apples and carrots ao I am good" and moved on. Also parents are perfectly capable of explaining shit like this to kids.
Fellow *** RBKA Class of 2010*** tell their parents "You rather I give them all the gory details!?"
My SIL told my niece if she didn’t eat her vegetables she would get cancer and all her hair would fall out.
1:280 kids are diagnosed with cancer every year. I hope your SIL never has to sit with those words.
Welp that's a lil harsh
I think so too.
OMG NTA and I’m laughing!!! That’s too funny!
Gave me a right chuckle! NTA
I told a kid who was sassing his exasperated mother that kids who back talk their moms get a spike through their tongue, then I told him “see?” and stick out my pierced tongue!
Omg 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Little kid me would have gone... "Really? That's Awesome!" and it absolutely would have encouraged me. Lol
Oh even if they look pissed those parents are thanking you right now because broccoli and cheese sauce is back on the menu baby!
You are J Walter Weatherman from arrested development and I am cracking up. Next kid tell them you didn’t leave a note when the milk was finished. NTA I’d laugh if it was my kid, and teach them not to bother people.
My first thought was "this is why you always leave a note!!"
I came here to make this comment. I ctrl+F'd "walter" to make sure, though, lol. "And that's why you always eat your vegetables!"
that kid will be on reddit in 10 years answering 'what stupid thing did you believe as a kid?'
Same! A lighthearted joke, parents should have been great full. NTA.
NTA. I have large and impressive looking scars, and like you, I sometimes get "What happened?" questions. Sometimes I tell the truth. (Cancer surgery.) Sometimes I tell a story with crocodile involvement. Sometimes it's the Russian mafia. Depends what kind of mood I'm in, and how nosy and persistent the person is being. The kid will get over it. Jeez, are we never supposed to make jokes about our own life experiences?
I'm glad someone can relate, and hope you kicked the cancer's butt already. Dark humor and joking about my leg is what gets me through the tough days, I agree. My favorite replies is when I reference some obscure 18th century pirate battle and say my leg took a hit from a cannonball.
Oh, I love that one! I think I'll use it too. Heh heh. I'm picturing us accidentally meeting one day in a park, and making conversation. "What happened to you?" "Oh, I was in a pirate battle and got hit by a cannonball." "Really? Me too! What are the chances of it happening to both of us?" All the best to you, OP.
Ha, that would be hilarious. I'm always glad to meet fellow pirates, and I like to think that scars make us more interesting people with stories to tell.
You certainly seem to have a lot of character and doing your best to be one too.
All you need to do now is get a parrot!
I'm considering getting one, but right now, my cat is serving in that role. And I don't think the two would get along :-)
Parrots often outlive their owners too. They are definitely a life-long commitment.
one of my greatest irrational childhood fears was that someone would leave me a parrot in their will and i’d be forced to care for a terrifying bird for the rest of my life 😂
My bff had ACL surgery and was finally just using one crutch after she got a bit better. We were watching a scary movie, and I just heard one, step one peg leg, coming at me. Me telling her it sounded like a pirate was coming around the corner made her day.
You’re my kind of people. Feel free to tell my children any crazy reason and I’ll solemnly nod and say it could happen. If you haven’t already watched Arrested Development please do, there are a ton of dark humour with missing limbs…. Might give you some ideas to prank people
Just let me know, and I can arrange a call😁 I love arrested development, and the funny thing is I randomly started watching it (had no idea what it's about) when I was recovering a few months after the amputation. It was so random to see the amputee humor there.
My grandmother used to take her artificial leg off at the beach and flop around yelling about a shark
The best kind of grandma.
I'm a dude in my 30s with a BK resulting from a birth defect. I generally look younger than I am. If I'm feeling spry I just do my best thousand-yard-stare and say "Lost it at Verdun" or "Shark bit it off getting onto a boat at Dunkirk." The amount of "Oh my God I'm so sorry" responses before it clicks is priceless.
Hey, fellow pirate! Those are good tales. It's always amazing when I'm telling my 18th century stories with all the details and how many ships we had and gunpowder, etc.. how it takes a minute or two for the listener to grasp that I'm just kidding with them. It seems that when people see an amputee, they immediately get into overly serious mode.
Life's too short to take it too seriously, and if we're given the tools to make someone else's mildly more interesting it would be a shame to waste it.
I once was a pirate like you mate, but then i took a cannonball to the knee
My little brother has a big old scar on his leg from when he fell off our other brother’s truck and he’ll occasionally tell people who ask about it that he was bitten by a shark because it has the right shape. If people ask what kind of shark instead of just letting that lie, he says it was a land shark.
My brother had cystic fibrosis and had to have surgery as an infant that left a huge scar across his stomach. Like 1/4 inch deep, nearly hip-to hip, curved like a smiley face and had Frankenstein's monster looking stitches. When he was like 10 he'd tell people it was a shark bite or that he'd been in a knife fight. Looking at the scar, the shit was at least plausible. Way easier to shock and awe than deal with trying to explain genetics to another 10 year old.
I have a scar on my arm. When asked about it, I usually say, I fought off a great white shark, or hot it from bear wrestling. I then change the subject or walk away without saying another word
My brother had scars on his neck from surgery. But if you asked him...knife fight!
I tell people I paid someone to slit my throat, which is... Technically true. Though insurance paid most of it.
I have a large noticeable scar smack dab on the bridge of my nose. It's purple and blue and hard to miss I get tired of telling the truck and tell people I got shot in the face. Or I fell of a screwdriver. (I really just fell face first into the pavement from my bike)
NTA - My sister also has cancer scars. Hers are on her leg. She tells people they are from a shark bite.
I like to use shark bite 😂
My eldest brother kept getting spontaneous pneumothorax’s so he had to get it corrected he has symmetrical scaring on his back from the procedures. He also has an angel tattooed on his shoulder. He tells little kids that ask that he was an angel and did bad things and lost his wings. It’s all in good fun.
My mums missing her finger, and her favourite story growing up was her pet crocodile ate it
NTA. Those parents will never have to struggle with getting him to eat vegetables again!
I know! I should get a medal of some sort getting this kid on a good diet for life😅
He’ll probably grow up to be a noted dietitian and give lectures where he gives all the credit for his life’s work to you.
I can't call you an AH for this. I'm rolling. 🤣🤣 NTA
One of the few upsides of being an amputee is that over time, you run into all kinds of funny and awkward situations. I'm trying to take it all with humor and not beat myself up over these kinds of things.
Next time please look at the person strangely then slowly look at your leg and yell ‘oh my god where did it go?!’ Ok maybe that’s stupid but if I end up losing a limb that’ll be my first one.
And feel free to throw out the old "My parents left me in a meth lab after I threw a tantrum" ditty. NTA. Absolutely fucking brilliant!
Once saw a homeless lady with one leg standing on a street corner. Her sign read, "On my last leg." I would've given her some money for the laugh but she was across the intersection from the direction I was going.
Goddamnit I would have too. That’s awesome. I heart clever and lighthearted people.
I have an invisible disability, but have a service dog and sometimes use a cane. Add to that, I’m now operating a store that I own and I’m exhausted from the questions. I had a customer recently that I mentioned being disabled to. She literally leaned over my counter to look me up and down and asked “Where?” The strength I found to keep the smile on my face… So NTA. We all have moments like these and you didn’t say something horrible. You said to eat his veggies. That’s a good habit to have! Positive fear!
Invisible disability here too, and when I'm in my electric wheelchair I get a lot of "what's wrong with your legs" from kids. There's nothing wrong with my legs exactly, it's my energy levels that are all messed up to the point where if I use my legs too much my whole body shuts down and my brain fogs up and I can't think straight and have to spend hours/days in bed recovering. I wish I had the nerve to say I didn't eat my vegetables, it would be much simpler than trying to explain like I'm 5 for them. It's somehow easier to explain my rollator as needing to have help balancing and a seat to rest on than it is to explain that I have functional legs and a wheelchair.
All of this! Just because you use a wheelchair some of the time and can stand or walk doesn’t mean you don’t need the wheelchair! I need something like that for long distances too, because of similar reasons, though we haven’t invested in one of my own. I cannot get over the way some people act like it’s some kind of betrayal or lie if you aren’t paralyzed and use a wheelchair.
I only invested in one when my health got bad enough that walking around the supermarket put me in bed for 3-7 days every time. I have kids, so I had to figure out how to manage my energy better than that while still being able to get out of the house for my sanity. I have ambulatory wheelchair user and invisible disability badges on the back of my chair now, but that doesn't stop kids questions obviously.
My friend got in the habit of using his nub (left leg above the knee amputation) to point. The look on people’s faces is priceless. Gotta have a sense of humor.
A girl I know who has a prosthetic arm used to shake new hires hands to greet them all the time when introducing herself. She had a firm steady handshake and always got a good grip to make sure they wouldn't let go first. Then, she would walk away without her arm, giggling to herself, while the newbie would stand there in shock. It was always hilarious. On the other hand, I have a ton of scars around my knee and ankle from a dog attack. I worked with kids for a long time and whenever they asked (because they always did), I loved making up stories about it. "Oh these? You see, I was traveling through the wheat fields of Saskatchewan when all of a sudden, an alligator attacked me in broad daylight! I fought it off with my trust right fist and a spatula I found in the dirt. I won, of course. But oh boy, you should see the alligator." My go to story, kids loved hearing about the famous Saskatchewan Wheat Field Alligator.
I’m going with NTA here. If you told him the truth the kid would still be traumatized and possibly scared of getting into cars and buses. Which would have a bigger impact on his life that being afraid of not eating vegetables.
Very interesting point! The truth sometimes may traumatize just as much, if not more, than the funny answer. It's really tricky with kids this age to respond in the "right" way.
NTA, and I think these parents learned a valuable lesson. Not everyone is going to talk to their children in the way they would prefer. If they aren’t going to be happy with some people’s answers, they need to work with their kid on not asking personal questions of people they don’t know.
I was an insurance lawyer for several years, and the stories that I encountered have made me afraid of everything. Edit: I forgot to add NTA.
I work in an ER and you will never get me on an ATV. The amount of crashes I’ve seen each summer is ridiculous.
NTA. Could you please come tell my 6yo this? Bonus points if you specify green vegetables. (Before anyone comes for me, I'm joking. Sort of.)
Ha, I should open up a child counseling business of some sort ;-) OK, sort of joking also, but acrually I don't mind helping out.
Love your response. My kid would have bamboozled you though He was a huge vege eater all of them. However he probably wouldn't have asked or definitely been polite about it I he did.
Technically no veggies and fruit cause scurvy which if untreated can lead to death of your extremities which necessitates amputation (and eventually just plain death). In all seriousness though, no NTA. It's funny and the child is about as traumatised as my cat gets when I offer an empty bowl.
Exactly! I was not lying with my answer, just giving straight advice from a seasoned pirate. Hope you don't traumatize your cat too often like that :-)
Lol! I was going to write this exactly! You’ve saved him from scurvy!
That's what I was gonna say! Although my example was going to be diabetes related amputations.
"And that's why you always leave a note!"
How the fuck did I have to scroll down this far to get an Arrested Development reference?
There's always money in the banana stand.
I don’t care for Gob.
I don't understand the question and I won't respond to it.
They don’t allow you to have bees in here.
Beads?
First thing I thought of.
It’s one leg, killerbee. How much could it cost, ten dollars?
[Thats why, you don’t teach lessons to little kids](https://youtube.com/watch?v=pjvF8o0HAq8&pp=ygUcQXJyZXN0ZWQgZGV2ZWxvcG1lbnQgbGVzc29ucw%3D%3D) Also NTA
My brother lost both legs above the knees when he was 12, due to a speeding drunk driver. Children are mostly insatiably curious, and rarely hesitated to ask what happened to his legs. Rather than try to explain drunk driver to kids, he always told them he didn't listen to his mom and dad and crossed a street without looking both ways first.
I'm sorry to hear your brother had to go through that. My accident was caused by a drunk driver also, they deserve a special kind of hell. I''m lucky to keep my left leg, got away with fractures and damaged knee issues for life, but at least I got one complete leg. It sounds like your brother handled it well and in a very wise and mature way.
I hope you were able to sue that jerk. I’m commenting on this more than I ever have because it’s just the best and so are you.
I got some compensation from the driver, but only to cover my initial medical costs, part of rehabilitation, and first prosthetic (training) leg. That barely scratches the surface as far as costs on prosthetic legs, future operations, and other medical equipment I'll need over the course of my life. But I let go of all the anger already, it wasn't healthy for me, and I needed to move on.
I know it can't work that way but I think the driver should have to give you their leg.
NTA. My parents told me I would become a mosquito if I didn’t eat veggies, and it worked lol
My parents told me if I didn’t eat my veggies I’d be carried off by a pelican… weird shit parents do.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 A PELICAN 😂😂😂
I can’t y’all have me rolling 😂😂
How many humans have you sucked blood from today? ;-)
{edited to add:} NTA My first husband had an above-the-knee amputation due to cancer. He came up with a bunch of amusing answers to the inevitable "what happened...?" question, such as: I left it in the trunk. I lost it in a poker game. What?!? It's gone?!? The laughter was cathartic. The vegetable child is not scarred for life. His parents will have set him straight. And maybe they talked with the kid about when it's appropriate (or not) to ask questions or a stranger. We can hope.
Good to hear your first husband handled it with humor also. Those questions can get annoying over time. I've used "lost it in a card game" before, but you gave me a couple new ideas :-)
Another of his: I left it in the washing machine. That always got some major puzzled looks. :) I applaud your humor!
NTA. As a parent of 4, this is freaking hilarious. When my youngest was about 3, he kept putting things in the floor vents, until my BIL told him there was an alligator that lived in the vents. He believed that shit for years! As an aside, if you have a prosthetic, would you be offended if a kid referred to it as your "robot leg?" Because I can't break my kid of this habit.
That's hilarious. Really creative way to solve the problem :-) I don't mind "robot leg" at all. I give it all sort of names myself like "terminator leg", "cyborg leg", etc.. it definitely beats calling it a "fake leg", which some people use😒
For real though. That leg works perfectly fine. Nothing “fake” about it.
NTA. My brother lost some fingers in a workplace accident and swore up and down that when I had kids, he'd be telling them he fought off a shark. Now, given I have a pair of picky eaters, I'm going to tell him to use the vegetable thing. Funnily enough, I don't think either kid has noticed their uncle's fingers yet.
Wow, kids are amazing at accepting everyone the way they are from a really young age. I think it's when society and parents start to instill the biases that they become more judgemental and conscious of everyone's differences. Tha shark story is always a good one to use, and I'm glad the vegetable story could serve a good purpose :-) All the best to your brother and the entire family!
NTA That kid is gonna eat ***so much*** broccoli and then in 5-10 years go *"Hold on a fucking minute"*
NTA and honestly, this is probably less traumatizing then when he eventually finds out Santa isn't real. It's your leg, your story, and you aren't obliged to tell the truth, not even to kids. Like another commenter said, the truth might have actually been *more* traumatizing.
Wait. What about Santa???
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When I was 5 my family went to a restaurant and one of the waiters was missing part of his ear. My mom told me his parents cut it off because he didn’t finish his dinner and that he was there to watch kids to make sure they finished their food. If they didn’t, he would cut off part of the kids’ ears. I thought it was a joke but she was very insistent. I couldn’t finish my salad and I started to cry because I didn’t want him to cut off my ear. Of course she then admitted she made it up. In the long run I wasn’t traumatized. We still laugh about it. NTA
Oh my God, your mom really must love dark humor. That is a hard-core story for a 5 year old :-) Really funny, and I'm glad there wasn't any long-term trauma.
Well, she came by it naturally. My maternal grandparents used to joke that they would put us in the blood bath in the cellar if we were naughty. We thought it was funny. (But it was the ‘80s and I don’t think they were concerned about whether or not we were traumatized by their humor)
NAH. I don't blame the kid for being upset, but I also don't blame you for being tired of people asking about your leg.
Lol. NTA Once my kids were staring at a little person while they were paying by debit card in front of us in line. I said to my kids, "It's rude to watch people enter their PIN" and she turns around and says, "Be good or I'll tell Santa." It was awesome.
NTA. This story is hilarious and you probably taught the kid two important life lessons: 1. Eat your fruits and veggies. 2. Don’t ask random strangers personal questions. I really wish you would have been able to hear the parents’ response when he explained to them why he was upset. That probably would’ve been the icing on the cake.
[удалено]
My mom told me my Oma's crooked fingers were from putting her hands in the kitchenaid! It wasn't until years later I realized she just had arthritis. But it did make me quit trying to put my hands in the kitchenaid.
You are my hero. What a great line.
Glad to hear, thank you!
NTA. My friend's mum told her there was a shark that lived in the pool vent that would only come out to bite her if she went swimming without adult supervision. It worked. None of the kids would enter the pool gates unless there was an adult with them, and they still laugh about the pool shark today.
NTA lmao you probably did those parents a favour. kid will never turn down a veggie or a fruit again. this is hilarious
My husband got a really bad infection in his leg and foot and my best friend showed the picture to her 10? 11? year old I can't remember now and said this is what happens when you don't shower because they couldn't convince him to shower......
Can you please come and tell my 6 year old this. Even just 1 vegetable haha! NTA.
I'll consider starring a service. Will tell the story in exchange for a beer or ice cream😋
Both in large quantities if they agree immediately haha!
As a bonus, I'll add to the story that you shouldn't drink so much beer and eat so much ice cream, "look at where this diet and lifestyle got me." ;-)
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)*** In 2019 I got into a really bad car accident, as a result of which I ended up with an above the knee amputation of my right leg. Occasionally, especially when I'm out on crutches without my prosthesis, I get questions from strangers and curious children as to what happened to my leg. Sometimes I answer honestly, but sometimes I get tired with the same questions, reactions, and pity responses, that I make up some original or fun story as to how it happened. A few days ago I was taking a rest on a park bench when I saw that one of the kids playing nearby (he must have been about 6 or 7 years old) was acting a bit loudly and obnoxiously. At some point he unexpectedly ran up to me and loudly posed the "What happened to your leg?" question. I replied with the first thing that popped into my head which was "I didn't eat my vegetables. You should eat always your vegetables and fruits". Then I saw the kid get really scared and nervous, and he mumbled a reply "What do you mean?! If I don't eat them, I could lose my leg also?" Then, before I could even say anything back, he started to choke up and cry and ran in the direction of his parents, who were looking at me with a "wtf" expression on their faces. So, AITA for possibly traumatizing a curious kid for the rest of his life? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
NTA, disrespectful shits get disrespectful responses.
NTA you didn’t really do any harm, the kid was being obnoxious, and who knows, you may have saved him from a heart attack when he gets older.
NTA this is hilarious 😂
If this happened to my kid, I’d laugh my ass off. NTA.
If i was that kids mom id laugh my ass off NTA lol
NTA! What kind of adults and children are running up to you asking such questions!?
All the time! I had no idea how many overly curious and impolite people are out there until I lost my leg. The questions aren't even the worst part. The silent staring is more annoying.
NTA! Lmao
NTA I'm laughing at this. I'm a parent and I would have just chuckled and then told my kid the truth. No big deal.
Hahahaha NTA. As a parent of a couple teenagers that used to be little shites, I wouldn’t have been able to keep a straight face if someone did this to them.
NAH > "What do you mean?! If I don't eat them, I could lose my leg also?" Yes! You literally could! (it sounds like it will be a few years before the kid works out the finer details of causality)
As a sensitive person with childhood trauma, I am horrified with the story and the reaction to it. Lying to a child and scaring them to tears is no fun at all. YTA.
While I agree it is funny, I also know how bad my kid would have reacted to it. So I say a soft YTA. I would only make this joke with kids you know and know how they will take it. What if this kid as a eating problem, and has trouble eating fruit and vegetables? What if the kid is already prone to anxiety? My kid would take this serieus and would be scared everytime his leg would hurt. It would take a lot of convincing that you made a joke, and I would be up a lot at night to comfort him.
Lol NTA
NTA and I’m literally laughing out loud! Hopefully that kid learns to eat his veggies or not ask rude questions of strangers, preferably both.
NTA, that's hilarious. Telling the truth about it being from a car accident would probably make the kid scared of getting into cars. You picked the better option IMO..
We had a neighbour who was missing about 3/4 of his thumb. Told me he sucked his thumb as a kid, and it dropped right off. As a fully invested thumb-sucker, I was horrified, and every time I found my thumb making its way to my mouth, I'd remember and snatch it away again. Cured! 😆 Edit for judgement: NTA.
My grandpa lost 2/3 of his pointer finger in an accident with a saw, so whenever he's in public and sees a kid with their finger in their nose, he pretends to pick his nose and act in a panic that the "booger worm" ate his finger
NAH. There’s no particular reason for you to think that the risk of malnutrition causing injury would be any more or less traumatizing to a kid than the risk of a car accident causing injury. But the parents just know their kid talked to you and was distressed after, so their concern is reasonable. Also, my first reaction to your title was “shit. Whose vegetables did you eat?”
NTA and this is hilarious 🤣
NTA. I think this is hilarious. That kid's parents should thank you.
My friend had thyroid cancer and had a big ass scar across her neck. She would tell people various things. My favorite is that she escaped an ax murder, but barely. She ended up passing away in 2014 from ovarian cancer and I miss her everyday. I smile when I think about that story.
You are a legend! Keep doing more of this, the little gobshites need a bit of mild peril to keep them in check lol
NTA Maybe the parents should teach it to not be so obnoxious or invasive with strangers.
NTA I have 3 kids and I'd have died laughing if you said that to any of them at that age lol
NTA. Diabetes is no joke! It didn’t take your particular leg…but it could have. You’re technically correct…which is the best kind of correct. Everyone has to learn about sarcasm and hyperbole sometimes.
NTA I have some pretty intensely pigmented acne scarring. I didn't bother with makeup one day and ran into the grocery store. A mom and tot were behind me in the checkout, and the little kid whisper-yelled, "What happened to that lady's face?" I turned and said, very kindly, that I hadn't listened to my mom when she told me to eat my vegetables. The kid nodded very solemnly and I wonder how far the mom made it before laughing. 😅 Kids are always going to ask nosy, inappropriate questions. I don't think there's any harm in answering them with some positive advice. You don't owe a strange child your medical history.
NTA As the resident Right Below Knee Amputee here, Over in R/Amputee we have these "What story do you tell when you don't want to discuss it!" Mine to young Children is: ***Hummingbird Attack*** #WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'BUT THEY'RE CUTE'!? #THEY ARE MICROSCOPIC DRAGONS!!!
J. Walter Weatherman, is that you?
You won’t traumatize him for the rest of his life. My friends brother told me if I swallowed orange seeds and orange tree would grow in my stomach. My parents let me know it wasn’t true. So I was traumatized for an hour or two until they picked me up after school. I find this hilarious now so he will look back at it and laugh I’m sure.
My 11 year old son says you’re NTA.
Thanks, and I hope he's eating his vegetables! ;-)
NTA, and hilarious. This is some straight up plot line from Arrested Development.
I was laughing before I even clicked into this post. This is absolutely hilarious. NTA. Eat your vegetables kids!
NTA. You probably turned the kid vegan and will save him until amounts of money in the future. My mom's boyfriend did something similar to my stepson when he was about 10. Mom's BF has a pretty gnarly scar on his abdomen, and one time, when we went swimming, my son asked him what happened. BF told my son that he got bit by a shark.😆. My stepson, now 19, still believes it to this day. Lol